5 Lessons I Learned Working with David Farland
I’m sitting in a home office, at a desk, with my laptop open—but it’s not my home office, and it’s not my desk. There is a big bookcase full of fantasy books and keepsakes. But they are not my books or my keepsakes. The door is closed to keep out the cat—I’m allergic. I’m pounding […]
Six Benefits of Belonging to a Writers Group
What are the benefits to belonging in a good writing group? You may be considering joining one, if you haven’t already. Or, you may be re-evaluating if the one you belong to isn’t providing you with the core things that you need. After all, you have been using your creativity, creating new worlds, people, and […]
Reeling in Your Reader: The Power of Hooks
Captivating your reader’s attention and submerging them deep inside the story world is one of the universal goals for writers. We want our readers to experience the heart hammering, gasping for breath, sitting at their seat’s edge wondering how in the midnight sky their beloved character is going to escape an impossible conundrum. And to […]
Seductions and Promises
The sweetest thing writers can hear is that our readers missed their bedtime because they couldn’t put our book down. The words on the page seduce the reader to continue flipping and it’s obvious this engagement begins at the story’s opening and continues. So the question I’m exploring today is what openings do we need […]
6 Tips for Writing a Great Romance
Romance is one of the largest selling genres of all time. Yet, it often gets overlooked or seen as substandard or an easy genre to write in. This way of thinking isn’t only damaging, but it’s simply untrue. As I’ve studied the art of writing a great romance, I’ve learned some great tips for making your book stand out, […]
5 Keys to a Satisfying Denouement
Often as writers, we put a lot of our focus on the starting, climax, and middle of a story, and the denouement or falling action may be somewhat of an afterthought. If your experience was like mine, you were kind of taught that the denouement should just be a quick wrap-up that can end the […]
How to Use Dialog Tags Terribly
Dialog tags help the reader know who is speaking the dialog. Recently, I shared how you could write bad dialog in your stories. The truth is, though, if you really want to write wretched dialog, you should consider working on your dialog tags. Here are a few options that you might not have considered. I […]
The Influence Character: One of the Most Important Roles
The Influence Character is one of the most important roles in your character cast. It is third only to the protagonist and antagonist. The term “Influence Character” originates from Dramatica Theory, and has since been used and adopted (and sometimes adapted) by others in the writing community. This is a role that has power based […]
How to Write Bad Dialog
Writing bad dialog is almost an art form unto itself. Recently I read a couple of stories where it felt as if the author was struggling to come up with bad dialog. So I thought I should give a few tips on how to do it properly. The easiest way to write wretched dialog is […]
Pacing a Story: What’s the Rush?
Pacing a story appropriately will keep readers engaged. Unfortunately, many mistakenly think this means the story needs to be rushed. I see a lot of trends in today’s literature. Perhaps the biggest one is that every writer seems to be in a rush. Many new writers try to keep the pacing blazing hot. They’ve heard […]
